Flood-hit Pakistan's food imports surge 65% during first two months of FY23

Pakistan has seen a 65.45 per cent increase in food imports during the first two months of the ongoing fiscal year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said.

The major food imports include the country's main food staple wheat, palm oil and soybean oil among others, according to the latest stats issued by the bureau on Thursday.

The country has imported food items worth 392.83 billion rupees ($1.658 billion) during July-August as compared to 238.88 billion rupees during the same period last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

The biggest spike was noticed in the wheat import, which went up by 2,435 per cent in the first two months of the fiscal year.

Pakistan has imported wheat worth 68.49 billion rupees this year, while the wheat import bill for July and August 2021 was 2.70 billion rupees.

Meanwhile, the country imported palm oil worth 157.79 billion rupees which is 68.67 per cent higher than last year, whereas soybean oil worth 9.48 billion rupees was imported, making it 255.36 per cent higher than last year.

About one-third of Pakistan was inundated by water during the recent floods, which destroyed standing crops of rice and pulses over thousands of acres of land.

Local farmers feared that there might be a serious food shortage next year as the plantation of the wheat crop may also get delayed due to the current situation of cultivable lands. (1$ 236.89 Pakistani rupees)